Best of Turkey: Itinerary

After what can only be described as a whirlwind 24 hours, I finally arrive into Madrid on 24th May at 12:40, I grab my luggage and rush to the Turkish Airline counter. The initial plan was to arrive into Istabul at 14:00 pm on the 24th, I'm now rushing to the airline counter attempting to get the earlier 14:25 flight so I can arrive into Istanbul at 19:40 pm. They let me through, all in all I'm delayed only by 7 hours. Not bad. I'm exhausted and by the time I get to Dossi Dossi an absolutely wiped!

So starts the 10 day tour through Turkey (The Best of Plus Gallipoli Tour)

DAY 1 - 24.05.2023 - Arrival in Istanbul

Pick up from the airport and transfer to your hotel by private car. Overnight stay in Istanbul.

DAY 2 - 25.05.2023 - Old City Tour - (B, L)

Pick up from your hotel & visit Haghia Sophia, Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, Grand Bazaar and Topkapi Palace

(harem not included). Overnight stay in Istanbul.

DAY 3 - 26.05.2023 - Bosphorus & Two Continents Tour - (B, L)

Pick up from your hotel & enjoy the Bosphorus by Boat. Visit the Spice Bazaar, Dolmabahce Palace, Bosphorus

Bridge and Camlica Hill. Overnight stay in Istanbul.

DAY 4 - 27.05.2023 - Gallipoli Tour - (B, L)

Pick up from your hotel & drive (4.5 hours) south to the Gallipoli Peninsula. Hear expert information from a local

guide. Visit the Kabatepe War Museum, the intended landing place at Brighton Beach and Anzac Cove where the

Dawn Service is held each year. Also visit the NZ Memorial at Chunuk Bair, the Australian Memorial at Lone Pine,

and the Turkish Memorial as well. Overnight in Canakkale. Note: Enough time is spent in Gallipoli to visit all the

sites mentioned above.

DAY 5 - 28.05.2023 - Troy & Pergamon Tour - (B, L)

Pick up from your hotel & morning tour of the ruins of the ancient cities of Troy (1 hour drive from Canakkale).

Lunch break. In the afternoon, drive to Kusadasi, stopping at the beautiful ruins of Pergamon on the way (2 hours

drive). These stunning ruins, beautifully located on a hill top, demonstrate that the architects and sculptors of

Pergamon were among the most talented in the Hellenistic world. Final drive to Kusadasi will be 2.5 hours.

Overnight in Kusadasi.

DAY 6 - 29.05.2023 - Ephesus Tour - (B, L)

Pick up from your hotel & visit the ruins of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.

Then visit Ephesus Ancient City, the best-preserved Greco-Roman city in the world. Here you will explore the

Agora, Odeon, Celsius Library, Hadrian Temple, Roman Baths, Grand Theatre & Marble Street. After a lunch break,

visit the House of Virgin Mary, where she is thought to have spent her final years. Overnight stay in Kusadasi.

DAY 7 - 30.05.2023 - Pamukkale Tour - (B, L)

Pick up from your hotel & morning drive (2.5 hours) to Pamukkale, then lunch. In the afternoon, tour the 'Cotton

Castle.' Bring swimwear as you may have time to swim in the Antique Pool (extra fee applies.) Also visit the ancient

ruins of the City of Hierapolis with its theatre and Necropolis. After the tour, transfer to Kusadasi. Overnight in

Kusadasi.

DAY 8 - 31.05.2023 - Cappadocia by Flight - (B)

Pick up from your hotel & transfer to the airport for your flight Cappadocia (maybe via Istanbul.) On arrival,

transfer to your hotel. Overnight stay in Cappadocia.

DAY 9 - 01.06.2023 - Cappadocia North Tour - (B, L)

05:00 Hot air balloon flight over Cappadocia (Optional Extra - please contact us for price)

Hotel pickup, then a quick snack and safety briefing. Watching the balloon inflate, then you're off! Soaring over

fairy chimneys, and dipping low to skim cave dwellings. This may be your favourite part of your Turkey trip - it will

Best of Plus Gallipoli Tour - TurkeyTravelCentre.Com

certainly be unforgettable. Celebrate a soft landing with a quick drink, and return to your hotel for breakfast

around 8.30am.

Full Day Cappadocia Tour - (North)

Pick up from your hotel & tour start from Devrent Valley (Imagination Valley), spectacular fairy chimneys and

beautiful and scapes. After Devrent valley, we will visit Pasabag (known as Monk valley) where we will see double

and triple headed rock formations. Lunch at Avanos, famous for pottery and Redriver (Kızılırmak). After lunch, you

will visit Goreme open air museum which is in the heart of Cappadocia. Open air museum famous for wall

painting, dates back to 10th century describing the life of Jesus Christ and monks. The last stop will be the Uchisar

castle, natural and one of the biggest mass fairy chimney of the region. Overnight stay in Cappadocia.

DAY 10 - 02.06.2023 - Cappadocia South Tour - Istanbul - (B, L)

Full Day Cappadocia Tour - (South)

Pick up from your hotel & tour starts with Red valley. Explore the famous rock-cut churches and hike through the

colourful and breath taking fairy chimneys. After 4 kms hiking, you will visit Cavusin (Greek village), famous for

rock cut churches. After lunch, you will visit the one of the magical places of the region, the largest underground

city of Cappadocia. After the underground city, you will visit the pigeon valley famous for dovecotes. The last stop

is Ortahisar castle, one of the biggest mass fairy chimney of Cappadocia. After the tour, transfer to airport for your

flight back to Istanbul. Overnight stay in Istanbul.

DAY 11 - 03.06.2023 - Istanbul - End - (B)

Pick up from the hotel according to your flight schedule and transfer to the airport.

Stuck in Cuba

It's my final day in Havana - my flight is just before midday, so I really only have the morning free. at 7 am, I take a walk around Vedado, visiting the Che Guevara Monument and the Cemetery. I'm feeling pretty content with the amount of sightseeing and am keen to get back to the US.  It's been an enjoyable trip, lots of walking, lots of sightseeing in this very interesting city. I've enjoyed the friendly people, the gorgeous architecture and the vintage cars, there's a real sense of charm in this country. 

I arrive at Havana airport at 10 am for the 11:45 flight, the lady returns my passport and says "Sorry, we can't let you get on this flight with an ESTA. You need to talk to the service counter". Confused, and taken aback, she points at the American Airlines service counter. I walk over and show the same documents, the service representative prints out a piece of paper and tells me that "You cannot enter the US with an ESTA from Cuba". The piece of paper says the ticket/fare is invalid and has a supplementary leaflet about canceled flights. I ask her to repeat herself. Her English is good, I make out something about the ESTA being invalidated when entering from but suddenly a wave of dread rushes through my body. She points me in the direction of another counter "they can help you with flights out of Havana".

I walk over to the ticket counter, it's an independently run counter specialising in flights out of Havana. "This happens sometimes, we had a lady from Australia last week who had the same issue, she didn't know you could not fly back into the USA from Cuba on an ESTA, you need to get a new visa, or fly back indirectly. Most people fly through Panama or Mexico, then you can re-enter the US". My connecting flight from Miami to Frankfurt is at 16:45. It's not 10:15, it dawns on me that I might miss this flight to Europe. I ask her how much flights are from Havana to Panama or Mexico. She quotes me $350 USD  to Panama, and $420 USD to Mexico. She tells me I need to have to show an exit flight ticket if I enter Mexico. I look at my cash reserves, I had initially brought over $700 USD, 100 EUR and 100 GBP. I was down to $180 USD, 60 EUR and 100 GBP. I ask the lady if she will accept GBP, "I've never seen this currency before, it's pretty. Sorry, but I can only accept USD or Euros for this flight" (No Pesos). 

There's a Money Exchange at the airport, they have different FX rates to Cuban Pesos. I'm hoping that I can exchange currency in return for USD. "Sorry we can only change other currencies to Peso, not the other way around". The ATM at the airport only dispenses Pesos. There's also a chance my bank card doesn't work with this ATM. There was no way to get more legal tender (eg: USD or EUR). One option was to catch a taxi (40 USD one way) back into Havana where I could find somebody to exchange GBP or Pesos (assuming I can get more Pesos) to USD. It was already 11 am, I was at the airport and there was no way to get more money to buy a flight. Panic sets in. I need internet. I search for a sim card, there aren't any but I find a vendor who is selling 30 min and 60 mins wifi cards. I bunch of 60 min cards for 1 USD a piece, watching my USD savings drop.

I jump online and message my parents that I won't be in Istanbul as expected. I'm able see what flights are available, the flights to Panama and Mexico from Havana are like 800-1000 USD, and the flights from Panama and Mexico back to Miami are another 300-400 USD. This could be an expensive exit! 

Unfortunately, all the flights get me back to Miami tomorrow, so I would have to change that flight. I look up at the board to see what other flights are available out of Havana,  most of them are to Miami, Houston, part of the US. Outside of Mexico and Panama the only other destinations are Buenos Aires and Madrid. Madrid at 21:45! That's Europe, that's where I need to go. I navigate to the website and try to book the flight out on Air Europa, the transaction fails. I try another credit card, that also fails. I try a travel site, that also fails.The feeling of not being able to get out of Cuba, whilst being in Cuba has sunk in. I help from outside of Cuba. It's now midday.

I message some people in Sydney and Hong Kong, most people are asleep. Nothing I can do now, I walk over to the Air Europa service desk, nobody is there, but somebody mentions that the counter will open at 17:00. I have to wait around until then. It's a helpless feeling, not having access to your money, not having access to your credit cards, not speaking the local language, not having internet. Everything gets stripped away. 

So I sit at this airport, periodically reading, walking around, essentially trying to kill 5 hours. I'm also sparingly using my internet cards, as who knows how long I'm going to be stuck here. It's a long wait. I watch people arrive at the airport, check into their flight, and then depart. It's so simple. Nobody else is being denied entry into the US. This is tough work. Feeling dejected and annoyed to have missed first the first day of Turkey, I continue to wait.

At 17:00 I scratch another wifi card and get back online. People are awake, Jen is awake, Jing is awake. Jen replies first, I ask her to try to book that flight for me. The problem is, it's already tomorrow in Sydney, so it's a challenge to book a flight that was technically 'yesterday', she tries a few things and eventually gets the right flight, however when she tries to book, her credit card also fails. Ok, this is weird. By now the the Air Europa counter has opened, I ask if they accept credit card, they say "Yes", we process the ticket and I go to pay. Both cards are denied. OK, International Credit Cards just DO NOT WORK in CUBA. 

Plan B, Jen manages to contact her work travel agent who has an international travel agent network. One final attempt to book a flight out of Havana today. Unfortunately, Air Europa is not recognised in the system as a familiar airline vendor, so there is a due diligence process required before tickets can be booked and issued. In the meantime, I contact some hotels near to Havana Airport. Worse case, I stay another night in Havana and try to exit again tomorrow. One of the hotels has rooms, I just need to get there before midnight; At least I have somewhere to sleep.

At 18:30 there's a breakthrough! The travel agent, confirm Air Europa as a vendor and secures a seat on the flight UX0052 from Havana to Madrid on the 23rd May at 21:45. I'm down to my second last wifi card, I go to the counter at 18:40 and check my luggage and receive a boarding pass. It's a 9 hour flight, and it's a middle seat, but I don't care. A wave of gratitude, fills my body. Relief. Escape. Gratefulness. So long, Cuba.

Long weekend: Madrid

There are particular words or phrases that transcend countries and cultures. Take for example, "Hot summer". For many Londoners this is regarded as any temperature that takes the mercury past 24 degrees Celsius. It should be noted that any sunshine is enough for a local to rip off their t-shirt and head to the park for some much needed vitamin D. Another example would be the phrase "Summer Bank Holiday Long Weekend". This on the other hand only means one thing in London: "Get out of London for 3 days!". So naturally we did that. The destination? Madrid, Spain.


I raced home after work, that's right folks, I'm employed and at this moment in time not enjoying it (but that's for another post). Did my laundry and turned in for an early night a couple of hours later I was up and out of the flat by 3:30 am. At 4:00 am I caught the Easybus 757 from Gloucester Place and was shuttled off to Luton airport.

The flight was bearable and allowed me to catch up on some much needed sleep for the weekend ahead. I awoke 30 minutes before landing to find my neighbour eagerly looking my way. "Sorry, I didn't want to wake you, do you mind if I go to the toilet?". Such manners, makes me wonder what would have happened if I had said "no" and gone back to sleep.


Disembarking from the plane we were greeted by our host at Madrid Barajas International Airport. It should be noted that the person we're staying with I have only met once in my life. Immediately we were whisked away back to her place in Getafe. Upon entering the house we were exposed to a beautiful house with modern decor and an adorable 1 year old baby with a knack of calling everybody "baba". Congee was served for lunch followed by a quick car wash and our afternoon spent absorbing European Art at Museo del Prado.



The 2 hour stroll through the museum with our lack of sleep had finally caught up to us. Taking it upon ourselves we indulged in a little afternoon Spanish ritual known as a siesta. At 10 pm we headed out for dinner (normal time apparently). On the menu tonight was Japanese/Chinese cuisine at the delightfully and delicious Jade Colonial. After many months living in London, the freshness of the food was welcomed by all. With all members sporting sizable bags underneath the eyes we sucked it up and hit the town for a spot of partying. We were driven to Buddha del mar which oddly reminded me a little of Tao in Vegas. The night ended in a blur: €200 for a bottle of vodka. Drinking games. Intoxication. Sleep.

Despite having little to no sleep the previous night we awoke scattered about the house wanting more sleep. In Spain "Hot summer" represents 35 degrees of unadulterated warmth framed by cloudless skies and 9:00 pm sunsets. Given the nature of our previous day we lazed about the pool for the majority of the day. Water tests had revealed that the pools PH levels were fine but the chlorine levels left much to be desired. Which meant a lot of water watching but that was fine by us. The next couple of hours we sat in the shaded area of the local Mc Donalds followed by more water watching and chatting until sunset. Traditional Spanish cuisine for dinner: Tapas and cerveza.

Without a doubt the underlying theme of the holiday has been relaxation and laziness. Monday was no different, I was awoken to the sound of Usher blasting through the hallways. I suspect this was no coincidence but more of a polite way of waking the guests. Given our previous days efforts (or lack there of) it was decided we take a train into Madrid downtown and walk about the shopping district. Urgency was required as we raced home, packed and headed back to the airport only to be advised that our flight be delayed. Work is going to be a struggle this week ...